Steve Davis sacked by Leyton Orient after just one win from 12 games

Leyton Orient are searching for the man to banish the spectre of a second straight relegation after they sacked manager Steve Davis on Tuesday.

Davis paid with his job after a run of only one win from 12 matches left Orient 19th in the National League, three points and two places above the drop zone.

Davis was appointed in the summer by the club’s owners on the recommendation of Martin Ling, the former Os boss who is now their director of football.

Coaches Ross Embleton and Dean Brill have been asked to take charge of Saturday’s home game against Dover as Orient try to settle on a successor. Standard Sport understands that at this stage Ling, who led Orient to promotion from League Two in 2006, does not want to return to management.

Since last summer’s takeover, Orient have been stabilised off the field after they dropped out of the Football League, yet results have not improved.

Chairman Nigel Travis said: “Football is a results-based business and whilst we knew this was going to be a challenging season, we did not expect to be so close to the bottom four at this stage. We showed a lot of promise early on but that hasn’t been sustained, so we felt it was time to make a change.”